1953 Champions Cup

The 1951 Champions Cup was the 7th official, and 8th overall edition of the Champions Cup, the deciding game(s) of the NERC season. This installment was played between the Manhattan Archers and Buffalo Panthers. Manhattan was looking to win their second title in three years, while the Panthers were looking to win their second in five.

The Panthers won the first game, becoming the first ever lower seed to force a winner-take-all second game. However, the Archers prevailed in a back-and-forth second game, claiming their second Cup.

Game 1
The first game was played on September 26, 1953, at New York Runty Park.

Opening
Fans from all over New York funneled into the New York Runty Park on a cloudy September Day, ready to take in the 1953 Champions Cup Final. On one side of the field warming up were the Manhattan Archers, who were playing in their third consecutive edition of the championship, and looking to win their second. On the other side were the 2nd-place Buffalo Panthers, looking for the upset, and also looking to become the first ever team to force a winner-take-all second game for the Champions Cup. Around 70% of the stadium were Archers faithful, 25% Panthers supporters, and the remaining 5% consisted of neutral fans.

First Quarter
Buffalo won the opening jump-ball, and the game started off slowly. Manhattan held the ball for the first few minutes of the quarter, just passing it around. They attempted some rushes, but couldn’t get much to go. Meanwhile Buffalo was holding down their fort, but when they got the ball, they just gave it right back to Manhattan. The first score of the game came 6:10 in, when Manhattan’s Vern Chamne kicked a point. Despite Manhattan dominating possession, it would be Buffalo that scored the game’s first goal, a perfect kick from Sid Papgecz. The pace ramped up from there, and both teams traded great chances. However, none of these found the back of the net. The best chance came from the Archers’ Van German, who rocketed a shot off the post. After a while, the pace came to a standstill. Buffalo’s midfield was absolutely lethal, ending any Manhattan rush with quick tackles. However, the Panthers couldn’t get anything going offensively for themselves. The Archers attempted one last rush to end the quarter, and their quick ball movement resulted in a goal from German. After one quarter, Manhattan held a one-point lead, but they were being outplayed by a tough Panthers team.

Second Quarter
The pace to start the second quarter rejuvenated the game. Rushes were going from end-to-end, and there were more good chances. 5:50 in, German potted one home again, extending the Archers’ lead to 9. He was absolutely dialed in. The Archers were finally managing to get around Buffalo’s midfield, but this actually backfired on them, as it allowed the Panthers offense to open up. Soon after, on back-to-back rushes, Artie Booth scored a point and a goal. The game was now tied at 9. The Archers kicked a point a few minutes later to retake the lead. At this point, their coach, Ethan Sisnett, told the team to slow down the game to the end of the half. This worked for the better part of 6 minutes, but when Buffalo started pressing harder, the Archers took advantage and kicked another point. Buffalo would win the ensuing jump-ball, hold it in their zone, then end the quarter with a great rush. Des Samuel had a point-blank chance, but a great save by Manhattan’s Will Elliott deflected the ball wide for a point. The half drew to a close, and Manhattan still held a 1-point lead. The game was far from over.

Third Quarter
The third quarter started slowly. It took around 3 minutes just for the ball to get into one of the penalty arcs. Des Samuel, Buffalo’s leading scorer, had been really quiet up until his late point. However, he came to life in this quarter. 8 minutes in, he punched home his first goal of the game, then assisted a point scored by James Elijah on the very next rush. Buffalo now led 15-11, their largest lead of the game. The Panthers got some more good chances and extended attack time, but it was the Archers who struck next, a dribbler from Harry Marley. The Panthers kicked a point, and then the pace died down significantly. With the two teams only being within a point of each other, they were desperately trying to prevent giving up the next goal. There was the occasional chance, but nothing too hard for either defense to handle. The biggest chance came with 1:20 to go, when the Archers managed to cut through Buffalo. However, when an Archers player was just about to shoot, Elijah deflected it out through the pointline, and the score was tied once again. The quarter drew to a close, and for the second consecutive year, the Champions Cup was tied after 3 quarters of play.

Fourth Quarter
Just 1:39 into the fourth quarter, Manhattan’s James Rattie kicked a point, giving them the lead. Even though that goal put the Archers in front, it ignited a spark in the Panthers that didn’t leave until the end of the game. 2:55 after that point, the Panthers converted a corner kick, and they had the lead back. Soon after, Samuel kicked a point, and the Panthers continued piling on. Allen Formock put his name on the scoresheet, and the Panthers now had the largest lead either team had seen all game. Manhattan had under 14 minutes to score twice, which didn’t seem too outlandish. However, the Buffalo midfield and defense had done a fantastic job at swarming Manhattan whenever they tried to rush upfield. Now that Buffalo was up by 8, they kicked their defensive play into full gear. The Archers couldn’t even get the ball into their attacking half until there were 8 minutes left. They tried pressing with all they could, but the Panthers would not break. They finally got chances in the final minute of play, but it was too late at that point. Vern Chamne scored a consolation goal with 3 seconds left. As the whistle blew, the NYRP was in shock. The Panthers had become the first team in NERC history to force a winner-take-all second game of the Champions Cup.

Second Game
One week to the date of the first game, the two teams met again at the NYRP.

Opening
One week after the Panthers’ game 1 win, the two teams met back at the New York Runty Park, where it was now a winner-take-all situation. Whoever won this game would become the second team in the NERC to have multiple Champions Cup victories. If Manhattan won, it would be their second title in 3 years. If the Panthers won, it would be their second title in 5 years. Since both teams wore two sets of jerseys throughout the season, the NERC game them the choice to stay with what they wore in the first game, or change into their other set. Manhattan elected to stay, while Buffalo opted to wear their short-sleeve jerseys. Lastly, all fans who attended the first game were allowed to re-enter for this one, so the crowd was one again a majority Manhattan crowd.

First Quarter
The game started off incredibly quickly. Off the opening jump-ball, the Panthers won it and rushed all the way down to the Manhattan end, where Allen Formock kicked a goal within the opening 20 seconds. The Manhattan crowd was in shock, and the Panthers continued to press. Over the next 9 minutes, the ball was in Manhattan’s end for the majority of the time. They got more chances, but the Manhattan backline did a good job at not giving them any point-blank opportunities. The Panthers managed two points, and were up 6-0 early. The second Buffalo point provided a spark for the Archers, who would take the ensuing jump-ball, then score their first goal of the game, courtesy of Isaac Letay. The Archers kicked another point to get within one, then the game’s pace slowed down. Eventually, with under 5 minutes to play, Buffalo’s James Elijah was fouled inside the arc, drawing a penalty shot. He buried it, and their lead was now 5. The Archers kicked a point around a minute later, and after one quarter of play, the Panthers held a one-goal lead.

Second Quarter
The first part of the second quarter was a shotfest. Under 90 seconds in, Vern Chamne tied the game for the Archers off a close-range shot. 2 minutes later, Buffalo retook the lead with a 20-yard goal from Fred Johnson. Soon after that, Manhattan would tie the game once again, this time with Bryan Wilms getting his name on the scoresheet via a deflection off a free kick. The Archers continued pressing, and got another goal to take their first lead of the game. Barney Ferguson, who hadn’t scored yet in the playoffs, kicked a rolling ball into the top left corner. Manhattan added a late point, and similar to the first quarter, the pace died down. The Panthers got a few opportunities, including a couple shots off of corner kicks, but nothing beat the Archers backline. There wouldn’t be any other good chances until the final minute, when Manhattan’s Van German found himself 1-on-1 against Buffalo’s James Elijah. He attempted to chip the ball up and over, but it bounced off the face of the crossbar and back into play, and the Manhattan 5-point lead remained to the end of the half.

Third Quarter
Just like the previous two quarters, there was a goal within the first two minutes. Buffalo’s Larry Richardson, known for being a stay-at-home defender, found himself in a rush and kicked a goalscorer’s goal that Manhattan had no chance of stopping. The Archers responded strongly, getting a point from Mark Jansen and a goal from Ferguson within the next 4 minutes. With Manhattan on the verge of running away with the game, Buffalo came back firing, getting a goal from Artie Booth. Booth also assisted on a point soon after, putting the Panthers back within one point. The team’s defenses tightened for a period, and they went around 6 minutes without any scores. Eventually, Wilms kicked a point, and Harry Marley capitalized on a breakaway, putting the Archers up by 6 with under 7 to play in the quarter. Nestor Wright had a beautiful chance for Buffalo to get within three, but his blistering shot deflected off a defender, off the post, and wide for a point. The Archers kicked a late point of their own, restoring that 6-point lead to the end of the quarter. The Archers were in the front seat, but the game wasn’t over yet.

Fourth Quarter
The Archers started the final quarter strong, but Buffalo did a good job to limit their chances to outside shots. The Archers had 8 shots in the first few minutes, but only managed two points out of those. Their lead was now 2 goals, but Buffalo still wasn’t out. With just under 10 minutes gone, Des Samuel, who had been having another quiet game, scored from close range to put the Panthers within a goal. That didn’t last long however, as Manhattan’s Christian Downey scored off a long-range effort to put them back up by 8. Buffalo now had 12 minutes to score twice. With around 7 to play, Samuel found himself open in a prime scoring position, but he shanked his shot, almost missing the net completely. He still got a point, but it should’ve been a goal. James Elijah found himself in a similar situation just a minute later, but he had the same result. Those were two great opportunities that would’ve tied the game had both gone in. Instead, Buffalo was down by 6 with 6 to go. Those two misses demoralized them for the rest of the game, and the Archers would ride out the clock. As the final whistle blew, the majority of the New York Runty Park erupted. The Manhattan Archers were once again the Champions Cup winners, in just their third season in the league.